Starbucks, Saks, Barnes & Noble Say Transgender People Can Use The Bathroom Of Their Choice

By

Carlos Santoscoy

|
May 06, 2016

Starbucks, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord &
Taylor and Barnes & Noble are among the retailers joining Target
in announcing policies that allow transgender people to use the
bathroom of their choice in their stores.

The companies confirmed to USA
Today “that employees and customers in their stores are
welcome to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.”

Mary Ellen Keating, a spokesperson for
Barnes & Noble, told the paper: “For our transgender employees
and customer, [treating everyone with dignity and respect] means they
are allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.”

Hudson's Bay Co., which operates Saks
Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, said that it “respects and
affirms each person's right to self-identify and access facilities
that reflect their gender identity.”

Chains which did not respond to USA
Today include Macy's, Whole Foods and Walmart. Simon Property
Group, which owns more than 325 properties nationwide, including many
regional malls, also did not comment.